Last night it was a big night for us as we won once again a Best Bet, here's the write up:

WNBA - 603 Seattle Storm @ 604 Los Angeles Sparks

The Playoffs starts only this Wednesday, but I just don't want to wait more time, as we have a very favorable key line and I want to take full advantage of that. These two teams are now in different directions and despite the fact that Seattle has the home court advantage in this series, the Sparks are actually listed at -150 to win the series in several books.

The Sparks are now healthy and enjoying their best moment of the season. They are 10-3 in their last 13 games and the main edge that they have against their opponents is their huge size advantage. Plain and simple, the Sparks are killing everyone in the paint with Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker dominating their opponents. In their last 5 games just look for the Sparks' edge in terms of points in the paint: 48-15 vs. Phoenix; 42-36 vs. Minnesota; 44-26 vs. San Antonio, 38-28 again vs. San Antonio and 50-36 vs. Atlanta (one of the best frontcourts of the league). I expect in this game a similar edge for the Sparks and I'll explain why.

Meanwhile, Seattle has got what any top team doesn't need in the postseason: injuries! They were riding a 6-game winning streak and suddenly their best player Lauren Jackson got injured and she will be out for this game and probably for the whole postseason. Then, their playmaker Sue Bird got injured as well and despite the fact that she is probable for this contest, she has missed the last 3 games and she will be likely off sync for this game. The Storm have lost 3 of their last 4 games and surely they aren't bringing any kind of momentum for the playoffs.

The X factor for this game will be the Sparks' frontcourt against a team that doesn't have their best big player: Lauren Jackson. During the regular season these two teams split 2-2 the series, but I want you to look at the numbers: In the first game, Seattle defeated at home LA by 69-67. Lauren Jackson ended the game with 32 points by shooting 12-15 from the field and both Leslie and Parker did not play. In the second game, the Sparks spanked at home Seattle by 82-55. Jackson had a subpar game with 9 points and 3-10 FG and again Leslie and Parker did not play. In the third game, the Storm defeated LA after 3 overtimes and Jackson had 18 points 7-16 FG. Meanwhile Parker returned to action and finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds (Lisa DNP). Finally. the Sparks defeated at home the Storm by 79-75 after overtime and Jackson had 21 points for a 7-18 FG. For the first time in this series, both Leslie and Parker played against Seattle (Leslie came off the bench) and Parker had 18 points, 8-18 FG and 13 rebounds, while Leslie had 15 points 7-14 FG and 6 rebounds. So, what I am trying to say in here? The fact is that the Sparks have never played against the Storm at their best, while the Storm needed Lauren Jackson to perform at her best badly, in order to be competitive against the Sparks. Both things won't happen in this game and this clearly favors the Sparks.

These playoffs formats are different and weird. The team with the highest seed plays the second and the third game at home and there is a possibility for them to give up the road game, just to save their energies for the forthcoming home games and this is a scenario that I wouldn't be surprised to see happening in here. Last year these two teams faced each other in the first round and LA easily defeated Seattle at home. My real line for this contest is a blowout line -9.5 points for LA and we have enough edge to make them a Double Dime Play - Game of the Week.

Double Dime Play on Los Angeles Sparks (-5)